#1038 | Man United Batter Chelsea, What We Learned #CFC

This is Joe Cole. This is Ruben of the Chic and you're listening to the London Blue podcast. All right, Chelsea fans, welcome back to another episode. That's right. The London is Blue podcast. Hopefully your favorite place for talk therapy after the latest Chelsea men's team result. Dan, one of your hosts here, no Brandon, who made the ultra smart decision to take a trip out of town over the holiday weekend here in the US. And so I am stuck with Nick Verlaney on the other side of the talk box and just, you know, how you feeling Nicholas? First of all, what a pro move. Brandon really knows how to pick a spot. He's missed some just god awful moments this season. And look man, I mean, you know, if you're really good at this, that's what happens. Yeah, you know, I'm terrible, just like everyone else. I think this season has taken a lot of joy out of everyone's lives and, you know, to talk about such a utter catastrophic second half performance today is just going to not be too fun. But you know what, Dan? We don't run away. We haven't run away all season. We do this for the public record that we were here after this horrific result because that's what we do. And you know, we're going to just talk a little bit and see how it goes. Look, if you've ever felt left out in the chance about where were you and we were shit, you now have that badge of honor and can understand what it was like as Chelsea worked their way back to victory next season, but likely not this year. We're going to talk about a couple of things on this episode specifically what happened in Manchester over the 90 minutes when Chelsea saw themselves drop another three points this time to the Red Devils, not the citizens. We're going to talk about who is on the rise because there were some good performances despite the bad day out. And then we're also going to talk about a couple of the latest headlines surrounding Chelsea at the moment ahead of transfer season. And that is going to include some conversation about all the news and noise surrounding one Mason Mount. But Nick, we're going to get into a couple of three word match reviews here. And I love to let you take over since someone has to help out here Brandon isn't here. Do any of the lifting tonight? Yeah, you know, we're just we're pulling a little double duty. That's all right. Craig Lidue love this one. I love three word match reviews that contain some sort of imagery to paint a photo picture whatever. Craig Lidue with lacking basic instincts with a full gift from the from the movie there. So that's always going to be a winner. Craig, you know how to get into these. Shane live laugh loose. So good. Can we put that over like an entrance in front of Stanford Bridge somewhere? Maybe that would be great. Beth, we done yet. Great question. We're not work. We're close, but we're not. The Gleezy one more game. Yep. Claire, no more comma please. Close, close again. Two times champion pizza, honey. Drunk FIFA disaster. Hard to argue with any of these sentiments, Dan, they are all dead on and you know, a couple really creative ones in there. I went with United. We fall. I thought that was very apt description about what happened and then you went with one that is going to make some people laugh. I think people are going to chuckle when they hear you. Everyone at this point is probably seeing the video that Brandon took or do you take? Brandon took it because I crossed the ball in. Yep. We're screwing around at a training facility in Minneapolis and trying to score goals and Dan hit a corner and I and I whiffed one right in front of goal. And that was basically Chelsea. So Chelsea nicked it. That was that was me. And you know what? If the standard of play is Nick for Laney, we're in a really bad spot here, Dan. Really bad. The standard of podcasting is high. The standard of play, maybe not so great, but those who are playing at a 10, we want to thank Jonathan on Patreon for joining the community there. We want to thank everybody, leaving wonderful five interviews and Apple podcasts and on Spotify. We'd love to go up to three thousand five store views on Spotify. We're at four point nine over two thousand. So that's our summer goal, our summer aspiration. You know, it's effectively our reading list, if you will. So help us out with that one as we jump into some match details because it was Manchester United this past Thursday, May the 25th in the Premier League location was the theater of our, you know, not dreams, our nightmares. And it was a score line of Manchester United for Chelsea one. Casamiro, Marcia, both getting in goals before the end of the first half. And then ends up or not ends up Bruno Fernandez getting a penalty in the 73rd minute rashford poking at home in the 78th try to call game. But Felix jumps in the 89th minute to say, not yet. I want the goal of the month celebration for the Chelsea men's team. So we're going to run it over to the fifth day and highlights because we're a glens for punishment. And we want to thank them for letting us use this audio to relive the horror of the 90 minutes that we got a chance to watch today. So we'll be right back. Look, it's been a while since I did the whole, uh, no highlights. I'm on strike. Oh, I don't want to hear it, but I'd really, I really, really don't like many nighted. And I wouldn't want to listen to this. So we're moving on. Okay, Nick. So as Brandon would say, it's line of time. Don't you tell the lovely people who we put onto the field? Yeah, we, we went back to back four. So, uh, Kepa in goal, Lewis Hall continuing to play left back stroke left wing back and doing it well, I would say Trevo and West in the middle and captain says our spoke great on the right midfield three of a Enzo Fernandez playing that deeper lying role Connor Gallagher and Carney Chukwameka. Is that you? Do, do I, do I, do I, do my eyes deceive me? Is that, is that one Carney Chukwameka? That's amazing. Uh, and then we got the front three that I think everyone, uh, wanted to see, uh, with mudrick, haverts and Madawake, the bench, uh, Christian Pulsik, a rare run out in the 64th minute for mudrick, Joelle Felix in the 64th minute for haverts. Ruben Loftus cheek in the 82nd minute for Chukwameka. Hakim Zias still continuing to see time at Chelsea in the 82nd minute for Madawake. And, uh, oh my God, David Dattro Fafana on the 82nd minute for Connor Gallagher on new subs of Edwan Mendy, Caledou Koolabali, Taggosova and, uh, one young number 58 on the, uh, on the, on the shirt, Alfie Gilchrist making a Premier League bench. First men's team squad appearance for the Chelsea men. So well done for young Alfie. Congratulations. Got a front row seat to seeing that. Look, our stats at a top line level expected goals for United 5.13 to Chelsea's 1.93, uh, ball possession. We had 59% on the ball compared to their 41%. We have 14 shots there, 18, five shots on target to their nine, five off target to their four and then four block shots to their five. We had four corners there, three, six fouls to their 12, both one yellow card apiece. We had three big chances of which we missed three. So Sam, update your stat there. We had, they had seven big chances. They missed four of them. They hit the Woodward twice as well. And I'm going to give you one random stat. Again, XG philosophy and so if I score a little bit of a variance minimal between the two XGs, but XG philosophy saying, man, United created 5.31 XG against Chelsea, the most they've ever accumulated in a primarily game since they've started collecting records in 2014. Is that good Dan or, or what is it? Maybe not very good. That would be the opposite of it. Another bonkers stat, because I'm throwing one in here. Good friend Scott known as carefree you saying Cesar Espo Queda is making his 507th appearance for Chelsea. Then his 10 teammates combined at 499. Keppa was the top of list of 162 all the way down to Holland, Madawake, who were level at 11 apiece. But that was a very stunning stat. And it showed you that this I think was the actually the youngest Chelsea Premier League side in the entirety of the Premier League area. 23 and I think 200 days. Yeah. Yeah. So young and they played like it. It was, look, I mean, just to sum it up, it's fucking horrific. You know, you 5.31 XG or 13 and whatever, it doesn't matter. A lot of goals in your XG and I'm not even an XG guy. That's huge. They missed four big chances and they scored four goals. Right. That tells you it could have been six or eight. Not great. Nick, you did though come up with an Emped shithouse moment of the match. And so I'll let you run into that one. Yeah. And look, I know people hate Christian Paulisic now and that's fine. That is what it is. Paulisic did go up on Dehaia a little bit. Very clean. It wasn't a dirty thing. But Dehaia hit out at him and he just gotten everyone's face. And I appreciated that at that point in the game when we're getting our ass kicked, I appreciate a little bit of fire and you know what? He's going to get a shithouse moment of the match for me. That's what I got. Well, there you go. We're going to jump into the match recap, the summary going through all the salient details in just a moment. But we're going to let our sponsors do some talking for a second and we'll be right back. Are you missing out on your favorite shows because it's not available in your region? Trying to keep your private time private? Well, let me introduce you to NordVPN. If you board up the US Netflix, why not just take it for a spin in the UK using NordVPN and a click of a button. You can do just that. No need to travel to Japan for your favorite anime when NordVPN brings up right to you with 5,000 plus servers. No show is out of your reach. Using my link, NordVPN.com forward slash London is blue. You can receive a huge discount on a two year plan with one month free. We all love the binge, but privacy is a big deal to NordVPN keeps your information encrypted so you never have to worry about your IP or location getting out. They've also doubled down on keeping you safe with their new threat protection feature. Say goodbye to intrusive website ads. In malware, even if you download an effective file threat protection kicks in and deletes it before it makes a mess. You don't forget there's literally no risk to you with a 30 day money back guarantee. Give it a try. And if you like it, great. If you don't, they'll issue a refund and you can pretend the entire situation never happened. Check it out. My link, NordVPN.com forward slash London is blue to get your subscription started today. Okay, Nick. So it had the makings of a great start in the fourth minute, we're my color mudric get the ball, the nominal chance didn't do the best with it. That individual shot had a .5 X G by itself. And just as quickly four minutes later, you had Casa Miro ended up taking it home completely free in a set piece. Just making it happen. And it was essentially the summary of Chelsea season in eight minutes of football. 100%. I mean, it's the most frustrating thing in the world. This, I would say for the entire first half, we were better than United. We played some really good football. It was an open game. Lots of back and forth. Lots of counter pressing and, you know, within four minutes. So there was a chance in the second minute with Chukumeka getting a shot in. That wasn't a high X G shot or anything, but it was an open shot. And I was like, Oh my God, someone took a shot at goal. What an unbelievable thing. And then Lewis Hall on an incredible counter attack puts the ball on a fucking plate for Michaela Mujrick, who I genuinely don't know what this cat is doing right now with his feet because every time you shot at goal this year, it's been woeful. And it shows you, I think, that he's a bigger project than we originally thought. Lewis Hall has significantly outperformed expectations. And I think Mujrick has significantly underperformed expectations. And that was no more clear than on that one goal. I know they don't play the same position. I know, whatever, you get what I'm saying, both young players, both with a ton of potential. One is taking his opportunity. The other one is shitting it down his leg. And I think for those Mujrick fans out there who are probably listening to me drone on about him going, well, Nick, we have to see him, you know, get a real chance, real run on the team to build confidence. I totally agree with you. I don't think he's a bad player, but I think he's going to take a hell of a lot of work. And it would not surprise me if he's not a locked on starter for some time at Chelsea. That's kind of how I took today. He's going to be one where Pochettino coming in is going to have to focus attention from a coaching perspective within his setup to get him going in the right direction. Again, lots of promise, lots of potential. But I think as you kind of rightly alluded to that while after that goal, Chelsea really struggled to stay in the game around the 30th minute or so, we finally got back our footing. We were able to get stuff going again. Havards, Paul, Gallagher, all had big chances. Sorry, I have hurts in Gallagher day at halls. I think was a point 17 next year, but all of them had a shot and we're able to place the ball. But putting pressure in, keeping it a little bit more compact, avoiding letting the ball slip across the halfway line, generally the best spell of the game for Chelsea. The play was good. I mean, I know people are going to see the result and the second half was an utter disaster. We're going to talk about that in a minute. But the first half, we all played them on the pitch. We just couldn't score. At the very least, I should say, it should have been 2-2 going in to halftime. Gallagher shot cannot go wide. That is an embarrassing miss. Havards, open header center of goal from a guy who's won a Champions League with a goal, couldn't hit the broadside of a barn. It was six yards outside of the post. They replayed it at halftime and Tim Howard was like, what in the world are you doing? No one heads the ball like that. And look, you can't keep missing shots like that because you're going to be made to pay for it. And that's a me, Dan, is just when you talk about the story of the season, it is our inability to score a fucking goal at any crucial point of any match that has meant that we are going to end the season in 13th or 14th place. Well, when you look at it in terms of just where we rank in Premier League sides for the delta from expected goal. So plus being extremely positive means you're outperforming. If you rank first in that list, it's a very positive thing. If you rank lowest in that list, like many other things in life, it's a negative and you are below the expectation of where you should be performing at Chelsea are 19th out of 20 Premier League clubs, minus nine, nine point something expected goals over the entirety of the season. So we did get a fully brightened within the way that this Chelsea side adopted a new identity this season and very much could not get out of our own way or make a way to convert on those chances. And so that is why we find ourselves in the position we're in where we are crying for a lot of change to solve the problem of Kelsey's inability to score. But after all that positive movement, it was a marshall goal at the very final moments of the first half in extra time when it just completely removed the momentum that Chelsea had established heading right into the end of that first half. Beautiful pass from customer. Oh, has to be said. He really, I think he was probably my main of the match today. Really delicious pass. And then look, I mean, as we could not catch marshall right now, if you gave him a five yard head start, I mean, there's just no way that was going to happen. And yeah, I mean, you go in after all of that hard work after everything that you had done, maybe a little bit unlucky, you go from a little bit unlucky to now you're just going to lose because we don't have three goals and save our lives. And yeah, I mean, basically all of the all the uproar on Twitter was totally deserved at that point. I mean, it's it's another hopeless performance. And it turns out that it got worse. Yeah, the one thing I would say is over the entirety of the 90 minutes, there were runs that as he made and closed downs, he made like the one on rashford in particular. Yeah, he made some. I think it's just that he's not at the point where he's doing it consistently across 90 minutes and is capable of tracking you and every one of those players individually. So I think it's a matter of your, you have a risk. There's a risk in that position when you play him and you have to hope that you're maintaining more possession of the ball, that you're keeping it across the halfway line halfway line as much as possible. So you don't put yourself in a position where he gets exposed or others get exposed. And the challenge was is that we were very open to the counter every single time became available. Like, Lewis at times struggled, you know, he had better recovery, but he struggled as well. And then he was app and when you have Mujurik and Madawake, also maybe kind of getting dispossessed up top and not necessarily getting back as quickly either. So those were those were the points that could have been addressed or maybe pointed out and half time. However, well, boy, it's the 64th minute you're getting changes on both sides. You know, Joao Felix comes in along with Bosek, 10 hog response, put in puts in Granacho and then Fred as a way to make something happen. And that was effectively the screw turning in the game. Like Chelsea didn't get out to a good start anyway in the second half. But that was the moment where it just felt like the locks were in and Chelsea didn't have any of the freedom they needed to make anything happen. Mr. was mounting in midfield and there was no space operate. No, I mean, I think my overall thoughts in the second half is that this this team lacks character. They lack fortitude and they lack a coolness under pressure that was just so apparent in the second half. And you know, it started with Wes, a guy who I think has been largely a decent performer this year. I wouldn't say he's blowing the doors off of expectations or anything. He's been pretty okay and made a petulant challenge on Bruno Fernandez, who was always going down because he goes down even when no one touches him. So you knew that shit was going to happen, but it was a penalty. It was an absolute penalty. And it was a stupid ass, brainless thing to do in that situation when the guy is already bypassed you, like reaching behind with your foot and trying to clip a ball that's three yards away at that point is just not the move. And that's not what anyone I'm sure and his professional coaching would tell him to do. And it's a penalty. And you know, the game's already a little bit on edge at that point and then it's completely over. Yeah, the interesting thing that you talk about relating to the coolness under pressure and then the character and continued into the point where Kepa is trying to do the head games element with Fernandez a little bit. You have afterwards they're celebrating an Enzo standing alone in a sea of red, botting up just a little. And the absence of other Chelsea players in the surrounding area was very weird. Just as a is a still if you just took the still heck if you've been turning into a real you took it in a 15 second real the amount of other Chelsea players swarming to try and be a part of it or try to release the tension or try to cool things down. That was that was just so it was so it was so it was Trev. It was Trev and that was it like intribal only came over to stop Jaden from being stupid too. So I don't even know what that was about. I think it was about Bruno celebration or whatever. But like at that point like you you miss you miss the opportunity three goals ago to get in their face right like so I while I appreciate it and like I want Chelsea to to move back to a team that has more fouls that is smarter without the ball that is shit house like I want Chelsea to be shit house again desperately because I didn't wear to pick up a hell of a lot more points and trying to play around everybody and be the nice guys like the time for that Enzo was at the start of the game not after you've just conceded a third and I again it just shows to me like yes he did show some character there and like you know I think my broad statement from earlier doesn't apply to every individual person but when you look at the performances as a whole it does it does apply because we completely lost it from that point on and played the silliest game that I've seen us play in a really long time. I think the second half Dan was worse than the Arsenal first half. Well when Rashford had the opportunity I'm going to call it the reverse mudric because he found his shot in very easy position and absolutely smashed it home so those who believed in him for fantasy primarily were rewarded quite kindly and almost almost called game except for the fact as we mentioned earlier winner of the goal of the month. Drew Al-Felix finds an opportunity to score pretty nice goal it just felt like it felt like the worst type of like good news you could get in a terrible situation. Yeah you know I'm happy that he scored because if he wouldn't have scored there and Pulisic was as wide open as he was sure on the left that would have been an all-time blooper. So if you're going to take that one on you basically have to score it or you wouldn't be mad if Frank pulled him after that. So yeah nice goal for sure and you know I'm glad we scored a goal you know they're not too frequent these goals for us. Again enjoy when they come along look that is the match summary there are other players who want to talk about like Lewis Hall and Karne Chukomeka in more detail we'll do that right after this break we talk about players who are on the rise putting themselves in the best possible situation as the club looks ready to hit a reset button this summer so stay tuned we'll be right back. Take on the Sun with gear built to last. Our friends at Shadyrais have been covered for the warm weather ahead with premium polarized shades at an affordable price. Shadyrais is an independent sunglasses company that offers a world-class product that's just as good as any expensive pair we've worn durable frames and extremely clear optics for outdoor adventures that's not all. Shadyrais offers the most insane protection in all of eyewear every pair of sunglasses backed by lost and broken replacements that means if you lose or break your pair even on day one they told us that they will send you a brand new pair no questions asked and if you're anything like me it breaks down lots of a cell phone. Pair your Shadyrais with confidence they have your back long after you make your purchase. Together with their customers Shadyrais is providing much new support to non-profit partners across the US through Shadyrais impact. From building play sets for pediatric cancer patients to providing young adults with MS the outdoor adventure of a lifetime Shadyrais is making impact in your community and others like it now and for years to come. If you don't love your Shadyrais exchange for a new pair or return them for free within 30 days there's no risk when you shop their team always has your back. Shadyrais Memorial Day sale is live right now go to Shadyrais.com and get 35% off all sunglasses. Try for yourself the shades rated 5 stars by over 250,000 people. That's right go to Shadyrais.com. Okay Nick we can't stop Heaping praise on Lewis Hall so actually I'm going to revert the order here because we gave Lewis a lot of love we've been given a lot of love over the past few pods. Let's give Carn so let's give Chuck Omega a little bit of an opportunity to get some plot it's here and his first Premier League start is first start since January 15th, 2023. So it's been a minute since he's earned a starting role and this also comes on the back of maybe some substitute appearances not a lot of time in the starting 11 or even as a substitute but this felt like a really good audition for the next manager for Chuck Lameka is like hey here's what I can do for you. Yeah I think he played relatively well in the first half I mean I think the second half was bad for everybody so like you know let's just separate these two things out. You know I know you and Sam were talking about him you know in the Wednesday pod about his ball carrying ability and that is absolutely true. There were times out there I was like is that Ruben Loftus-Cheek carrying the ball through the midfield and distributing it and you know I think there is a really talented player and they're obviously taking a rip or two. A goal is great I think his interchange with Madawake and as he was better than I expected it to be just because those three players have not played together in a Premier League game up to this point and so you know you kind of factor all that stuff in I think that's you know a really interesting prospect for Chelsea. I also liked on set pieces that you know he does provide a big body in there that you know the opposition has to deal with. Of course you know didn't score a goal didn't get an assist or anything like that today but I really you know I think there was some good effort in there there was some decent tracking back in the first half there was some not so decent tracking back in the second half if we're just being honest about it but yeah I mean like as a guy who hasn't really played a whole lot in the last five months I think you can probably forgive him for some of this stuff but you know again I kind of I left feeling good about him you know I think it's impossible to judge him fully after 82 minutes. Yeah just to get some of his stats he had five round goals five wins he had two dribbles too successful he was fouled one time one interception two tackles he had the one off target shot he had ninety two percent accurate passes one out of one accurate long ball and again I was strong strong individual performance again the collective team continue to beat his jointed and so I think you could fairly say that it's extremely hard to judge some of the players right now and I would say that that's a fair statement given the way they've set up given the way that the way they're playing right now is not necessarily going to be the way that we play next season and so it's more looking for flashes something to build on an opportunity to say hey there's something here with this player whether or not they impress enough during preseason on the summer tour to work themselves into a starting position to be a first player off the bench substitution next season part of the depth in the squad that still open a consideration I think what we're trying to do in this segment is really focus on players who are advocating for themselves through those individual moments and matches to be in consideration and I think just as much as we're bawding praise on Chuck Omega I think Lewis Hall is the other one that I imagine he's going to get a chance to start again on Sunday and I would imagine just the trend line for him is we'll be talking about him again Nick because he is probably had his best performance of the season in this moment. Yeah look I'm caveatting both of these young players because when I look at the problems that Chelsea it's not either one of these guys right the problems of Chelsea are extended far deeper far far broader than two young players one who came through the academy one who was a it was a transfer in last year or over the summer. Lewis Hall is creating chances every fucking match he plays he should have had two assists in the first half and one in the second half if Lewis Hall have left this game with the three assists we don't be losing our mind. Yes the defensive position on the counter was tough. Yes he did blow it I think one of the I think was second goal but what else can you expect from him like I really don't know he's 18 going on 19 playing at Old Trafford in a position that isn't even his position and he's out playing your 90 million dollar left wing signing. It's his position now baby. Look man I just he merely adopted it he was born in it. I was born in it. Yeah look I just if any of our forwards could finish their fucking chances then this kid would probably be on six or seven chances made this year assist and you would look at him differently I think. Then you are with like the missed chances is that fair. It's fair I think the thing that he is doing right now with the way that he's playing he's being move us into a position where if someone like Ruben Loftish cheek wants to be a starter wants to go to AC Milan in the summer and you want to move on cocharea as you're also looking potentially bringing him outside back into the side but it's very successful loan I'm Burnley helping them get promoted. Yes please I like the scenario they go on please. Yeah I know I'm telling you I'm giving you something really good so he becomes an option to give you cover across multiple positions to give your guys an opportunity to not get ground and you know ground into stone or ground in a dust from stone during the entirety of the season even though we'll play less matches because surprise no European football at least 10 matches off the board for this Chelsea side. I think to me it is making it's creating a situation for us that is super advantageous where we could book transfer profit off of someone like Ruben leaving and promote Lewis into the first team side fully heading in the next season and give him an opportunity for real minutes. Again it's all going to come down to the manager it's all going to come down to who else we keep and retain and sell and can't sell but I'm going to start heavily advocating like it will not be a shock during keeps a loan I'm like hey Lewis Hall let's keep them. Yeah way to preview that. So obviously we put out some social content from our pod on Monday and Eshan chose to use my Lewis Hall quote as one of our social posts and he's going to do it again. He's going to do it again and look I by the way I fucking stand by that and if you go look at the comments on that post it shows you that Twitter is just full of bot accounts because anyone who's watched him play knows that he's a real talent and can project can use their brain a little bit and project that he is going to improve and perhaps even play in a more natural midfield position at some point and the fact that he can carry the ball the fact that he can dribble the fact that he can create space the fact that he can deliver passes in front of an attacker so they could do something with it hypothetically we haven't seen it happen yet but hypothetically a real striker would be able to put the chances away like it's not hard to project where he could be. I have a bunch of people are like sell him and buy some superstar no you need Lewis Halls in your team you need them one we just spent 500 billion I don't know if you guys remember that already we've already spent it we're going to spend more in the summer because this team is broken but you need Lewis Halls to come through the academy the excellent fucking academy that we have you know the men's team is the only misfunctioning or malfunctioning part of Chelsea football club right now women about to win another league in FA Cup double and the youth are just a machine in cranking out talent you need him in the team you need people like him to come through you need your Connor Gallagers you need your mason mounts you know these guys to come through so that when you want to buy someone great truly great excellent top tier competing against Real Madrid competing against you know whatever that you can safely afford those players on big wages right he against Aston Villa and Tottenham yeah I mean really kind of now but no man it's it's it's we've been talking about the the process and protocol for years now Tweeds has talked about it Phil has talked about it Sam has talked about it like if you try to listen to Dustedy it's listen to you know those guys who know their shit like it's how good teams make stuff work and there are culture they're winning culture within the club that you don't have to teach it's awesome well speaking about winning culture and talking about a full shift of conversational topic because we want to get into a recent reports what's going on obviously the your 90 minutes plus extra time away from the end of this season closing a book on this closing this chapter rather the book of Chelsea long and filled with a lot of horror and a lot of ecstasy but this this chapter is finally coming to a close there's been a lot of news since we last recorded about what's going on with mace amount and mace amounts contract we saw David Ornstein reporting that mace amount was leaning towards joining Manchester United if Chelsea agrees to sell the talks were expected between the clubs and due course other sides have been pursuing the 24 year old England international are aware of his preference we've seen reports throughout the last three to six months linking him with Liverpool linking him now recently recently with Arsenal and we see now more concrete reporting around this link with Manchester United Chelsea are in the position where mason have one year left in his contract at the end of the season Chelsea have traditionally wanted to get a deal done before you wind down the clock and have no more time on the board left to negotiate and so Chelsea are in a position where mason mount does not want to sign a contract at this point this is the summer this is the time where you would look to move on from the player and there's a lot of emotion there's a lot of feeling I think Nick we would want to maybe caveat some of this by saying we've high five mason mount at the end of a Champions League final and that is going to color a lot of our opinion on this I think there's also a likelihood that it's going to be very hard to find someone who has had his level of goals plus assist contribution and bring them in to Chelsea for anything less than what you have or what you will sell mason mount for at the end of the season if you do to someone like Manchester United and so I'm going to turn it to you before I do I want to read Simon Johnson's tweet here as he was leaving Old Trafford said a group of Manchester United fans are singing mason mount's name clearly happy about the possibility so I will let you have your full take and then I'll share some more thoughts to yeah I mean it's a good setup I put out some tweets they've been engaged with a lot in bad faith and there's been a lot of muting and blocking happening that for for folks this week who are coming into my mention saying mounts trash mounts greedy mounts this mounts that like shut up get out of my fucking mentions man like or don't and I'll just mute you and you'll never know I think this mason mount we've talked about for a long time there are some people who really rate him I count myself among that crew that's not a big surprise to anyone who listens to this podcast regularly I think he's a superstar thirteen goal sixteen assists last year obviously had an injury rate of brittle season no one else has really stepped up to replace him by the way which should tell you basically all you need to know about you know his position his influence on the team I think that he and Reese James of the future of Chelsea football club they have won a Champions League together they are both leaders I would tip mason mount personally to be the captain of Chelsea football club I think he has all the intangibles and the leadership ability to be a captain and with that setup letting mason mount leave Chelsea without having made every fucking crazy attempt to keep him here is unfathomable to me it is unfathomable that we have got to the to the position where a lot of leaks are happening in the press where you know you're getting whispers of stuff behind the scenes I am just dumbfounded as to how we even fucking got here after Reese's contract was done in October and the promise when when the new ownership came in was that we're gonna get these two signed and then we're gonna move on to the rest of the plan Dan and I look if you want to have a good faith argument with me about I'm not saying you but if you out there want to have a good faith argument with me about well does he do this does he do that is potch gonna use them the right way you know whatever and and we can be on the opposite sides of that argument but you cannot tell me that this boy is not Chelsea like no other team would let a talisman like figure leave for less than you gave to Kukurea and gave Brighton for Kukurea like that is insane to me there are people you're never gonna convince that mason mount is a quality player so those who are acting in bad faith or don't want to necessarily get themselves into a conversation where the data is going to prove them wrong the eye test is gonna prove them wrong and I've already solidified their opinion this is not a conversation towards them this is a conversation with like minded individuals who are trying to talk about the reality of a situation that has should have been an easy conversation and I think what's troubling about this is the lack of transparency around how who what is happening with mason's contract you have frank coming out and talking about it in the moments after the match mentioning that you know it's looks difficult to get done he's clearly regarded extremely well so you got frank who again one of the mr. Chelsea's themselves trying to talk about the situation but here's my my big struggle is we have seen when bully or a Bali in particular had been involved in negotiations we had very accurate reporting throughout the the mudric deal and throughout the ends of frananda's deal and even the rees James contract that that level of leadership was involved and a deal came together quick you know quickly first song quicker than some because some had release clauses and then quicker or got accomplished when it looked like they were going to be very difficult deals to do we're at a point now where Chelsea have multiple directors we've seen one image from the entirety up from like all this structure kind of who reports to who where the dotted lines are at from the athletic trying to chart out what this reporting structure looks like but all the reporting has seemed to indicate that the it's nebulous that there's a desire for a flatness to that relationship and a collaborative working environment which can be great which can be absolutely great to encourage dialogue and conversation but it feels as if there's not a con a concrete or coherent understanding about where the delta is in terms of the contract again numbers are going to get reported you're going to have individuals in favor of the club getting the best deal floating their numbers of how wild and crazy a claim is going to be and then you're going to have agent side individuals negotiating say well actually it's not that out of bounds it's not that crazy and so again you multiple sides all this they're going to leak a different reporting on what's actually happening in this situation we know we talked to NAS earlier this week mason is one of the most available figures in terms of commercial opportunities for the club and image rights which talk about the breakdown between the percentage of money that the club gets to retain and that the player gets to retain would likely be a point of conversation and so with all the end contract length so average the wage which includes things like bonuses the contract length and things like image rights are all an important part of that package and it doesn't seem like there's a really good understanding about where the hold up is and it feels as if if you just rang a gbali and said hey can you come in here and be involved with this or Todd can you come in here and be involved with this that it could get done or a pachatino comes in as we've heard reporting that he likes mason now that he thinks he can't get sold that he could come in and potentially save it but it feels like if that's what has to happen every time that a negotiation is going south that's where it starts opening us to you know opening the technical director group to a lot of questions yeah it's it's it's office space what exactly do you say you do here um like it it's absolutely insane to to really get you know I think for those who are like I want mason mount out of the club but you I think you're a muppet and whatever you'd have to sell him for 150 million to get the the real value out of out of someone at that level right who's had that big of an impact that much of a leader 24 years old about to enter the prime of his career like we just bought mudrik for what 80 and in January and mudrik is not even close to the player that mason mount is like not even remotely close so and I just again I think I think your point on if if daddy warbucks has to come in and save the day all the time that's a very bad sign and maybe maybe there's some restructuring required to get some stuff done but I think more than that you've had a whole year to figure this out you've had a full year to to get it done if you sell mason mount to a top six rival for pennies on the dollar like I questioned the intelligence of everyone associated with that with that move and that's probably not the strongest words I could use on something like that like you know it and by the way I could say this the situation is so bad right and it's so chaotic and the negotiations have been so difficult that he just wants to leave now and that's his choice then you know what I will be really upset to see him go but you know whatever you can't you can't do anything about that right I think the other thing that NAS brought up to is like if you're only gonna sell them for fifty five million just eat the last year of his contract and see if you can convince him to stay like absolutely like it's at fifty five million just keep him for another year start him see how he gets along with podge and maybe there's another deal to be done you know maybe comes in straight away starts banging on the goals again like I just we're gonna just we're gonna write you a better deal for a part of the contract and it's just great terms for you it's it's not an extension it's not like here's his dollars that are gonna make you happier because right now you are lower paid than a vast majority of the existing squad and then 80k a week and that can't feel good either and so again this is not advocating just for you know on behalf of mason this is advocating for like common sense to rise to the top of what has seemingly become a stalemate between whomever is owning the negotiation of the hierarchy and mason slash masons camp and so you wish you could get in the room and be the mediator to help them figure it out but it doesn't seem like unless totter a volley drops in and solves a problem themselves takes into their own hand hands rather that that it's gonna get done in a seemingly good way and less podge of tino is able to be the forester you know drive that kind of conversation of that decision well I mean there's leverage there right because that dude has not signed and he's not been announced so you know if he comes in and says that mason mason's non-negotiable give him what he wants like that that's a possibility also to everyone in the leadership group it's been a tough year losing mason now would be a horrific year that it would go from bad to worse not only from an optics perspective which is largely what we're talking about here and we said this before we are not in the negotiating room we don't know anything more than you know in the in the public eye about what's what's happening what's being reported upon but like it doesn't take a genius stand to go keeping this guy around in the midst of all this turmoil and chaos a leader of your team in my mind a future captain of your team is a good thing to do like in a sea of transition let's not add another huge fucking piece to that puzzle that's all yeah we want to go after signing midfielders to build out that part of the roster once again and so we'll talk about Manuela and garte who is an individual that Chelsea have targeted there was reports today for breisa time at the bat that Paris Saint-Germain have sent a bid to sporting but it's different than the the 60 million euro release clause it's not done yet but Chelsea are absolutely in the race and who garte is one of the names on the list including moises caisado who as we're hearing additionally that it will be a bidding war and Brighton is absolutely licking their lips at the fact that Chelsea are coming back to the table and money oh come to the front of the line my friends like that is that is where we're at so do do do the bouncers let us to the front of the line after all the money we spent with them do you think that they're like hey come on in is it like the bouncers are concerned about how frequently we're coming back to this club and willing to splash cash that's what that's what the balances are concerned about they're letting us in but we're getting an eye at the front of the line so this is a player that if you go back and listen to the pod from earlier this week Sam and I did a deep dive on a few of the midfielder candidates that Chelsea could be going after was this caisado would be a very interesting talent extremely expensive likely over a hundred million at this point I imagine you could get that knockdown like I it's crazy they were quoting 80 million in January and I think he's gotten better and I think Sam highlighted that he looks like he's gotten better so if we're just saying like we're we're negotiations are going to start their anchor is at a hundred million it's it's insane I mean I really enjoy I'm only I just got through the middle of the Ugarte section of the Wednesday pod I haven't quite gotten all the way through yet but I think Sam's character race characterization of the most tenacious ball winner in Europe is something that kind of made my ears perk up a little bit for Ugarte I mean obviously if you've watched any of Brighton this season caisado has been really really good I don't know if we should go fund their whole club by buying two players from them and a coach I think that would seem a little crazy should have just bought Brighton you should have just bought the whole club yeah so so I don't I don't know I really you can't you can't spend a hundred on caisado you just couldn't do it not when you need a goalkeeper in the center forward I think that's just absolutely insane so but you know I think both are really interesting prospects obviously my pick of the liter is decklin fucking rice but you know we're nowhere on that so let's just start looking elsewhere and I guess lobby is going to be the place we end up probably I don't know well you know it's if you want Ugarte he's there you just got to pay the sixty million euro release clause and you can start the start the paperwork start the docu signs but lavia is the other player where there was a minor update in the times indicating that city are likely not the running to use their right a first refusal to acquire the player which doesn't really surprise anybody considering just how good and how deep their squad are and as particularly as they look to extend some of their other players who are in that midfield position for another season un unsurprising this feels more like a you might get the player but might not there's not necessarily been the same type of fervor around lavia even though he's looked like one of the better players in the Southampton side that have really struggled this season so I think that rounds out like the news updates at the moment Nick but that's going to do it I think we we tried to get to a more positive place at the end of this we'd least feel like we've talked out some of our feelings and can head into the final Sunday of the Premier League season a little lighter just a little like I don't know if I've ever been more excited for a season than I am but should we pop champagne on Sunday for the recording what should we do no it's Miller High Life because it's the champagne appears the only option we should definitely do that I was watching do you remember those old Miller High Life commercials yes like back in the day got go watch those do yourself a favor just go on YouTube they're amazing they're really good yeah Miller High Life's on Sunday Dan we're gonna watch Chelsea lose three know the Newcastle at home for Frank to be hopefully applauded at the end of it but got at this point tough to say and we're gonna get a seat mason mount do a lap of water before he leaves for Manchester United on for pennies on the dollar so you know could be the last match for many players this Sunday and so for those who are getting a chance to go even if the result is terrible we hope that for those players have been wonderful servants the club they get a fine applause or at least acknowledgement for their long service I'm thinking of someone like Cesar Aspliqueta at the end of the match but yeah it's just a weird end of the season I think it's almost the point where it's like what am I gonna do with that first Sunday that or Saturday or Sunday that doesn't involve a Premier League game and yeah there's a lot of opportunity out there you're probably gonna golf oh there's no doubt about it yeah no I'm very excited I'm playing twice on over Memorial Day weekend so we're getting warmed up Dan we're into summer now come on all right well before this turns into a golf podcast I'm gonna tips on how to hit a couple like a ball we will we will break this one and thank you for listening I hope you're doing well and stay in safe but until now till next time Chelsea fans you have to do keep a blue flag fine hi ♪♪♪♪